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Rider Insider: Bring in the Newbies


You’ve undoubtedly heard people in the equine industry lament the dwindling interest in horses in America. Horseback riding is competing with more accessible school-sponsored sports and activities—not to mention the ever-present video games and other indoor pastimes—for the limited attention of younger generations. Meanwhile, adults who want to ride often believe it’s too dangerous or too expensive to get involved with horses when work and household responsibilities are already so demanding.



Suburban sprawl has taken over much of the land that used to be hayfields and horse country. Zoning laws keep horses out of residential areas in some places, which means that many people rarely see horses, much less have access to them.



The stereotype of equestrians as elitist, snobby and filthy rich persists even as research has shown that most horse owners’ household incomes are close to the average for all Americans. Many people who don’t have a personal connection to the horse world believe that in order to ride, they must own a horse, and in order to own a horse, they must have a barn and pasture in the backyard.

Introducing new people to the wonderful world of horses has become an uphill battle. For this month’s Rider Insider, we want you to share your solutions. How would you help get non-riders interested in horses and riding? How would you combat the stereotypes about our sport and get newcomers out to lesson barns or trail stables to see what it’s really all about?

Click “Submit a Comment” below and share your thoughts. Some of the responses may be selected for a future issue of Horse Illustrated.


Throughout 2013, Noble Equine will be sponsoring the Rider Insider column in Horse Illustrated with a prize for the selected featured response. If you’d like to be considered for a prize, make sure to include your contact info in the email field of the contact form (emails will not be publicly displayed.)

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View Comments

  • If I could get more people to get into horses, I would offer free riding lessons. I love to teach and just a smile from someone really enjoying themselves would be worth more than pay any day of the week.

  • I think if we wait a couple more years gas will be soo expensive that people will look for an alternate transportation. Then I would "convienently" say that riding a horse is better than a bike or walking!

  • I think I would try to advertise all of the local horse activities. We have lots of horse people in our community but there are always new people moving here so we need to keep advertising our local horse activities.

  • Many people dont want to ride because they think its just pointless. I have several friends who argue with me that all we do is sit there, and the horses do all the work. So, i ask them what they believe is a sport and then tell them that it looks like nothing, which makes them see that even though it may look easy its not, and in the end its very rewarding.

  • I would like to see more accessibility for kids that want to learn about horse and more parent involvement even if they don't ride they can encourage the kids. I live in an area where there isn't much access to horses unless you know someone I'd like to see that change. I agree with person who said until the gas gets too expensive a horse will become a cheaper mode of trasportation than a vehicle.

  • I believe that riding horses needs to become cheaper. I know that for many people( including me), we love horses, but they are just too expensive for many families to afford.

  • Well, first of all, I'd tell them they don't really need a horse. I'm in a 4-H club where everyone thinks they need to have a horse, when in truth, they don't. 4-H offers many ways to get involved with horses, even though you don't have one. For example: we have people in our club with more than one horse, so when we have an event, they bring their extra horses for the horseless ones to ride. Also, we provide a mentor ship program which teaches kids who want to be involved with horses all the basics and then how to ride (emphasizing safety especially) on one of the mentor's own horses. But, if 4-H isn't an option (like say if you're an adult), then there's always going to be generous people out there who are willing to let you borrow their horse just so someone else will enter into and enjoy this wonderful world few people know.

  • I am part of a medieval re- creation group and I am the recruiting person for our equestrian program. The medieval games we do needs more than just riders. I used a local equestrian event , the western ny equifest , to interest people, we did a horseless demo, to lead into how much fun it could be with horses!! Grounds crew are crucial to these events!

  • I would love to own a lot of horses and sell them as cheaply as possible so that people could get a better outlook on the fun and responsibility of owning a horse. Perhaps then more people would become more interested in horses.

  • They call it the "horse world" for a reason (or at least I think so), because the horse world is a little bubble-world set off from the rest of society. We need to find a way to get horses out of the "horse world" and into the "real world."
    If we want to get new people into the horse world, we need to pop our bubble, find ways to get the horses to the people rather than getting the people to the horses.
    And I am living prood. I never found the horse world...the horse world found me.

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